This invention relates to an improved slat for use on roll-type shutters or blinds. Roll-type shutters are typically formed of a substantial number of horizontally elongated slats which are connected together, one above the other, to form a complete panel when the shutter is extended. One common form of shutter slat is formed of an aluminum or plastic extrusion made in a box-like cross-sectional configuration. The extrusion includes a hook configuration along the slat upper edge and a socket receiving the hook of the next slat along the slat lower edge for interconnecting adjacent slats one above the other.
Typically, extruded slats are made of a single aluminum or plastic extrusion. However, slats have been made of two separate sections which were fastened together to form a single box-like slat construction. Where the slats are formed of a single extrusion, the visual appearance on both sides of the shutter or blind, which is made of assembled slats, is the same. For example, if the slats are formed of aluminum which is painted with a particular color, both sides of the extended panel are the same.
There are times, however, where it is desirable to produce a blind or shutter panel which has an interior surface that is different than the appearance of the panel exterior surface to match a desired decor of a building. For example, it may be desirable to provide a different color and texture on the interior surface of the panel so that a large number of panels, covering a large number of windows of a building all appear to be the same from the outside of the building, while the interior surfaces are selectively matched to the decor of a particular room in which they are placed.
Examples of prior roll-type shutters with extruded, hollow or box-type slats are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,340 issued Aug. 10, 1982 to Paule; U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,218 issued Jan. 31, 1984 to LaRocca; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,953 issued Jul. 22, 1986 to Haffer. An example of a prior two-section slat formed of an aluminum extrusion with a separate, connected wood or extruded plastic section is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,247 issued Nov. 6, 1979 to Piana.
The invention herein relates to improvements to the types of slats mentioned above and particularly to the type of slat formed of two sections of two different materials. The improvements provide an inexpensive slat construction of the two-section type but, which can be more rapidly and easily assemblied.